GRRRR tomorrow’s Canada/Switzerland game will end before I get off work. No way the “radio silence” thing will work - if Canada wins tomorrow this gardener will see folk celebrating.
Just to go back to the debate around expanding the World Cup… 64 teams really would be a nonsense, even if logistically it makes more sense than 48. There’s already a fair amount of dross so 64 would just create some serious mismatches. There are a few countries that could comfortably host it though. England, no problem. London alone has got at least half a dozen stadiums suitable.
Does anyone know why they do that? Fox does it too throughout each match.
5 minutes into a game and they are all "if things stand as they are Canada goes through to the round of 32!"
I’d like to see them do that for the NFL: "Welcome back to the AFC Championship game. With 12:47 left in the first quarter the Chiefs have gone ahead 3 - 0. If this result stands it’ll be Kansas City in the Super Bowl against the NFC champion Packers."
That’s actually pretty funny.
Not sure about the “why” part, but this is common across soccer leagues worldwide. They call them “live” standings. It really only works in soccer, as there is so little scoring, and basically saying that these are the standings if there were no more goals in the ongoing match.
That the English goalie did not receive a red card for a possible foul against Prince Adu as last man is one thing. Not good. That Ezri Konsa was not sanctioned with a penalty and a card for fouling Prince Adu in the box is worse. He did not touch the ball, Prince Adu fell. VAR did not even intervene. But that Bellingham was not shown the red card for covering his mouth while talking to a rival shows that this rule is bonkers (and also that some teams are more team-y than others):
In this instance, the referee considered that the exchange with the Ghana player (Ayew) was cordial and that there was no evidence of offensive behaviour; consequently, the English player was not shown a red card.
So remember: cover your mouth cordially. Smile, even if the hand covers the smile. Be black, so you cannot be accused of racism (homophobia, perhaps? they pulled this card -ha! - against Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni if I remember correctly, although Vinicius is black and no suspect of being gay).
Anyway: Miguel Almirón covered his mouth in uncordial fashion and is not dark enough. An unusual way to fail the paper bag test. FIFA confirmed on Tuesday that Almirón will miss Paraguay’s final group stage match against Australia on Thursday. World football’s governing body stated that the decision is final.
It’s stupid rule but it’s also stupidly easy to comply with. If it’s going to be enforced it should be enforced for everybody in all cases. No judgement calls. Bellinghham should have been gone.
Round 2 is completed, and for the next four days there will be six games each day. Games involving teams from the same group will be played at the same time. The first two games today are from Group B, where no teams have qualified to advance, and no teams have been eliminated.
According to Yahoo, this is how each group stands:
Group A: Qualified: Mexico; Eliminated: None
Group B: Qualified: None; Eliminated: None
Group C: Qualified: None; Eliminated: Haiti
Group D: Qualified: USA; Eliminated: Türkiye
Group E: Qualified: Germany; Eliminated: None
Group F: Qualified: None; Eliminated: Tunisia
Group G: Qualified: None; Eliminated: None
Group H: Qualified: None; Eliminated: None
Group I: Qualified: France, Norway; Eliminated: None
Group J: Qualified: Argentina; Eliminated: Jordan
Group K: Qualified: Colombia; Eliminated: None
Group L: Qualified, Nobody; Eliminated, Panama
Oops. Thanks!
Group I: Qualified: France, Norway; Eliminated: None
If two teams have already qualified, aren’t the other two eliminated by logic.
No, 3rd place teams go through because of the expanded format
No shit? Guess I wasn’t paying attention.
8 of the 12 3rd place teams advance.
^^ Yeah, that.
We went from a 32-team WC to a 48-team WC that winnows down to a 32-team WC. Moar revenue.
Digging a bit more deeply into today’s matches, quoting directly from the same Yahoo article which I linked above. Listed in order of games played.
Group B: Canada will advance to the Round of 32 with a win or draw and would secure first place by avoiding defeat. Switzerland will also advance with a win or draw and would win the group with a victory.
Bosnia-Herzegovina and Qatar remain alive mathematically but need a win, help elsewhere and a massive goal-difference swing to climb into the top two.
Group C: Brazil can secure the group with a win over Scotland. Morocco advances with a win or draw against Haiti and can also finish first by making up the goal difference on Brazil.
Scotland can clinch a spot in the Round of 32 with a victory over Brazil and could even leap to first place if Morocco drops points. A draw could also be enough, though Scotland would need help.
Group A: Mexico secured first place in the group and will face a third-place team in the Round of 32.
For South Korea, a win or draw against South Africa sends it through as the group runner-up.
Czechia needs a win over Mexico and help from South Africa. If Czechia wins and South Africa beats South Korea, second place could come down to goal difference.
South Africa also has a path to second place. A win over South Korea combined with a Czechia draw or loss would send South Africa through. If both South Africa and Czechia win, goal difference could determine which team advances.
These next four days could be fun, with a lot at stake.
This is pretty impressive. Canada is not normally a very competitive team, are they?
Whoa, are they six games today? I better charge another device if FoxOne will allow simultaneous streaming on different screens.
They do.
Canada’s FIFA ranking is 30, so - middling, I spose.
(and out the door I go, now, an hour and a half early for work. I’m not supposed to start until 8 am, because of noise bylaws, but darnit today I’m firing up the line trimmer in the next 15 minutes. I don’t care if anyone comes out to complain about early noise - I’ll just go at them with the line trimmer.
Hoping I get back for at least the second half of Can/Swiz.)